The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-04-03
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

10 It's uOHOr.
Dogs do not chew smoke; but ~doe nearly
always keeps a store of favorite old bones by
him, one of which he loves to bring to the fire.
side, to pass away half an hour before going 10
bed gnawing it, while light-hearted dogs will
often end a spell OF chewing at their bone with
game of pitch-and-toss with it. / have often
known dogs to play pitch -and-ross with single
pellet of shot.
There is van horse in Edinburgh, Scotland
that catches rats. The other day the man in
charge found dead rat in the manger, and
when he fed his horse again he kept watch, and
soon saw rat slowly making his way to the
manger. AS soon as he began to eat his corn
the horse laid back his ears and made dive for
the rat, caught him in his teeth gave him ono
pinch and shake, let him drop. and calmly
kept on eating.
Upon cape extending from the Isle OF Cyprus
there formerly stood a monastery whose monks
were solemnly bound to keep cats to destroy the
snakes lnfesting the island. When certain
set forth again in quest of the reptiles. The
monastery and cats were destroyed Dv tho
Turks, who conquered the island toward the
close of the sixteenth century, but for many
years after the cape was called Cat cape"
According to Peter Hue the Chinese used the
cat a clock. ''They pointed out to US" says
the missionary, that the pupil of Its eye con-
tracted gradually as noon drew near; that at
noon it was like hair. or extremely thin
line. traced perpendcularly on the eye. After
we had atrentively examined the cats in the
place, we concluded it was past noon. The eyes
of all presented an exactly similar appearance"
The ''devl hawk" of Arizona is bird,
and an interesting one lie is described as hav-
ing remarkably handsome plumake, but very
ugly head. His talons are long and strong and
his beak is almost as sharp as needle and very
powerful This bird, but for his head. when on
the wing would pass for a pigeon, and flies IN
among them unnoticed, on account of his SIM
llarltY. and 9aSllv what he wants. He
Is tho picture of grace and beauty, and speed.
1t is estimated that there not mora than
dozen of them in the Territory. The Mexcans
are superstitious about him, and regard his
appearance as an evil omen.
A cat got upon the rim Of high fy-wheef
which runs in pit at an electric station in
Brooklyn The wheel was soon making twenty
revolutions minute. 1t was impossible to res
cue the cat from its perilous position without
stopping the engine and putting out all lights
dependent on the dynamos in the station. so that
tho unfortunate animal had to ride until the on
CINE was stopped at the usual hour for putting
out the lights. The cat then dropped exhausted
from the wheel, out soon revived and was none
the worse for its strange experience. 1t is esti-
mated that in the seven hours which the animal
spent on the wheel, near the rim, it travelled
more than thrse hundred miles.
No boy out of school shows his sense Of hap
piness or freedom more strongly than horse or
pony does when first turned loose for run at
grass tearing around the paddock, now stopping
for moment to snort and fill his lungs with
fresh air. and then. with kick ND of the heels.
continuing his gallop These spells Of play last
longer with some horses thar others, depending
often upon the length of time the animal has
been stabe.fed. A horse that is turned out
daily merely trots off few yards with a merry
laugh before beginning to nibble the fresh.
sweet grass In the stable the amusements of
horses too often take the form of wanton mis-
| chief, or some such horse-play as unlocking
stable jacket and tearing it up, or biting holes
IN their own clothing, kicking their stalls to bits
| ETC.. while very playful pony has been known
to indulge In pulling the feathers out OF pigeons
| tails
| A catmother, says lady who has made cats a
| study, is invariably moro loving than dog
mother. They will sometimes grieve themselves
| to death when deprived Of their offspring. We
! had one black cat. whose kittens were murdered
| by an outcast of her own race, who became in
| sane at their loss. She was as clearly crazy as
any human being berett of reason. This affec.
| ton which cats show for their young and the
| sorrow they manifest when they lose them dem
onstrate their capacity for attachment. Cats
| are emphaticaly the friends of our childhood.
| Little children notice cat sooner than any 9TH
| er animal Children often treat kittens very
| roughly, too, but they are invariably patient
| with abuse from a child The cat always seems
to know when she is a child's playfelow, that.
no matter how harsh In her usage, the child does
| not mean to hurt her. Children are often allowed
to play with kittens till they die from the rough
| handling. Yet pussy will run after the child as
long as she IS able to move.
| Tho crows of Yezo, Japan, are noisy numer-
| Gus and intelligently impudent A traveller saw
| dog eating piece of meat in the presence of
| these covetous birds They evidently said a
| great deal to each other the subject, and now
and then one or two of them tried to pull the
meat away from him, which he resented At
last big, strong crow succeeded in tearing off q
| piece, with which he returned to the pine where
| the others were congregated, and after much
earnest speech they all surrounded the Cog, and
the leading bird dexterously dropped the small
| piece OF meat within reach OF his mouth, when
he Immediately snapped at it. letting go the big
! piece unwisely for second. On this two Of the
| crows flew away with it to the pine. and with
much futtering and hilarity they all devoured
| it. tho deceived dog looking vacant and be-
| wildered for moment after which he sat under
the tree and barked at them namely. Anothe,
| gentleman sawa dog gnawing bone, when three
crows approached One of them got behind
| MIN and nipped his tail Then, as he turned tc
resent the injury. the other crows made off with
| the bone.
A lady who is greatly interested in cats, SAYS
Zone of mine-I have five-has found out tina,
she is good looking She has also ascertainet
that she can see the reflection of her beauty in
mirror. If it were merely cat she wanted Il
look at there are her four companions for her te
see. 1t is herself she wishes to admire and she
does not let an hour in the day pass withou
taking peep in the glass. She will lick he
hair, wash her face, and turn her tail first on,
way and then another, AS il trying the effect
and talk to herself with short 'meows' One O
the other cats--bie gray and black Nicholas
always acts, when he discovers her before ,
mirror, - If he is scolding her. Once whe,
Sa!lie tthat's the vain cats name) couldn't ge
her tail arranged to please her, she turne,
around with her back to tho glass and locke.
over her shoulder, switching the appendag
which occasioned her so much trouble from sid
to side. Nicholas had been keeping up con
tinual impatient growing for some time, ant
had walked back and forth near the table OF
which Sallie was seated. casting disdainfu
glances at her. Suddenly he jumped up, caueh
her by the neck and hauled her out into tn
further end of the hall. She cried and made
tremendous outbreak. but he put her in corne
and then stood before her for two or three min
utes, growing in the same tone as if he va
reading her lecture"
Mark Twain says that ''the ant is a stranpel
overrated bird" and goes on to tell of some YER
stupid things he has seen them do; but if thi
account be true, l think even he would have Z
own that these ants were not stupid, but kns,
how to do the right thing at the right time
One day, while watching a small column q
these foraging ants, placed little stone on on
of them to secure it. The next that approached
as soon as 1t discovered its situation. ran back il
an agitated manner TO communicate the inteIl
eence to the others. They rushed to the rescue
Some bit at the stone and tried to move il: other
seized the prisoner by the legs and tugged will
such force that thought tho legs would be pulle,
off, but they persevered till they got the ca ptiv
| frna nm al A.